A Day at Playland
by t00manyfeels
Summary: A short fic of Dean taking Sam to Playland (an amusement park) when they were kids. All cute fluff.
1. Prologue

_This takes place in Vancouver Canada when the Boys were teens (Dean is 16 and Sam is 12) and they have been living in a motel in North Vancouver for a few months now, actually enjoying it and thinking of it as a home. Sam is on his school soccer team and Dean works at Tim Hortons (which, for all you non Canadians is like Starbucks but cheaper, better and has AMAZING doughnuts). This is basically just a two shot of Dean taking Sam to Playland (which is a big amusement park) one day. Please comment what you think! Enjoy!_

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"Welcome to Tim Hortons, may I take you order?" Dean rattled off the greeting with looking up from the change he was swishing around in the donations box.

"Dean." The voice was stern and authoritative, though quiet. Dean whipped his head up; one hand automatically reaching inside his jacket where he expected to find his gun though there was nothing there.

"Sir?" He asked, setting his jaw.

"I would normally have waited till you got back from your -" John Winchester hesitated, his lip curling unapprovingly, "- job, but this can't wait. A big job has just come up in Victoria and I'm leaving immediately. I'll be gone about a week and I left money in the usual spot." He nodded farewell then turned to go, pausing when Dean said,

"Have you told Sam?"

"No. He's at some school thing. Tell him when you pick him up. I'll see you in a week." With that John walked out the door, the people in line behind him staring. Dean watched him go, not caring that he didn't know what he was hunting or even where Victoria was. All the mattered was Dad was gone a week and Sammy would be crushed but not surprised -again.


	2. The Bus

"Rise and shine Sammy."

Sam groaned as his brother yanked the blankets off his bed. "Dean it's seven in the morning, We normally don't get up till eight."

"Well this is a special day. We're skipping school and going to -" Dean paused for dramatic effect, a mischievous grin on his face, "- Playland!"

"Playland. Like Playland Playland?"

"Playland Playland. We can go on all the rides you want and eat mini-doughnuts and pay absurd amounts of money for the chance to win stupid prizes. It'll be great."

"Woah. But how…."

"Nope. No questions. Just get dressed, the bus comes in twenty."

Twenty-five minutes later the two brothers sat side by side as the bus sped towards Lonsdale Quay. They were the only people on it apart from a middle-aged man in a business suit and a mother holding a baby. Sam kept looking around nervously as if someone might recognize him and tell the school.

Dean noticed and said, "calm down there Sammy. You aren't going to get caught. What's the matter with you anyway? You've skipped school before."

"Yeah but I had a test today." Sam muttered under his breath, knowing Dean wouldn't understand.

"A test? So?"

"It was a big deal. The math final."

Dean took a breath, "Sam, I understand that you are some crazy freak that _likes_ school, but it's the _seventh_ grade; it's not going to matter and you'll be able to take it later anyways." Sam nodded, slightly mollified and thought that that was probably one of the more useful things Dean had said to him about school.

"Come on, this is our stop," Dean said ten minutes later, standing up and pulling Sam with him.

They stood on the sidewalk as the bus pulled away and Sam looked around, confused, "this isn't Playland," he said. Maybe Dean had been playing an elaborate trick on him, he thought. Then out loud he said, "what are we doing _here_?"

"Breakfast," Dean said, pointing to a café across the street.

Half an hour later Dean led Sam out of the café and down the road, stopping at a bus stop different from the one where they had got off. Sam opened his mouth to tell Dean as much when a bus rolled up, its destination sign saying Lynn Valley.

"This is our bus," Dean said, "well our first bus. We have to change twice." Sam nodded, things making sense now.

As they sat on what was now the third and final bus, Dean staring down anyone that dared look at them too long, Sam studied Dean. His eyes were bright and his face relaxed, giving the impression that nothing could bother him. However, Sam knew his older brother and Dean's shoulders were tense, his hand in his pocket where Sam knew it was clenched around a knife. Even on a day out with his younger brother Dean didn't take any chances.

Just then he reached across Sam and pulled the string that requested a stop. As the bus slowed Dean got up and looked down at Sam, "We're here." Was all he said before bounding to the door, giving his brother a wide, carefree smile; one none, even Sam, rarely ever saw.


	3. Playland

Ten minutes later Dean was trailing behind Sam who was staring, wide eyed at all the rides and attractions around him. He turned to Dean with one of the biggest smiles Dean had ever seen. "Where do you want to go first Sam?"

"What about the Wooden Rollercoaster?" Sam pointed to a tall, old looking ride taking up almost one whole edge of the park.

Dean grinned, "if you say so."

Standing in line, Sam was bouncing on the balls of his feet nervously looking at the ride. "Do you think they'll let me on? I might be too short."

"Don't think that way Sammy. You can do whatever you want!" Dean gave a huge fake grin and laughed. "Nah," he said more seriously, "it's not like you're eight, you'll be fine."

This was proved a moment later as the girl monitoring the ride waved them through without so much as a glance. Seconds later they were pulling the bar down over their laps and buckling their seatbelts. A loud bell rang out and the car started moving; going up the first incline. Sam gave Dean a thrilled smile and Dean felt his heart leap; just seeing Sam happy for a normal childlike reason made him happy too.

Three hours, many rides and a bag of mini-doughnuts later the two brothers sat on a bench drinking water and watching a toddler throwing a tantrum.

"How long do we have, Dean?" Sam glanced up at his brother who was checking his watch.

"All day Sammy. What do you want to hit next?"

"Uhhh, what about that one? The pirate ship?" He pointed to a large pirate ship ride swinging back and forth.

"Sure Sammy. Why don't you go get in line."

"Where are you going?"

"Nature calls!" Dean sauntered off leaving Sam to shrug then hurry to the line.

Ten minutes later Dean was swearing and Sam was whooping as the pirate ship rocked back and forth, faster and faster. "I didn't realize this would be so fast." Dean groaned. "I don't like swinging rides. They don't agree with my stomach."

"Well, get a new stomach then, cause I like em!" Sam grinned and Dean rolled his eyes, then clutched his mouth and flipped Sam off. Sam just laughed.

"Finally; it's over," Dean got off the ride slowly, groaning as he walked. A group of girls looked at him strangely and Dean hastened to stand up straight, smile and wink. They just rolled their eyes and kept walking. Sam sniggered. Dean flipped him off again. "Okay, no more swinging rides for me."

"What about an arcade game?" Sam suggested, pointing to the row of various brightly coloured game booths.

"Sure." Dean shrugged. "It'll give me a chance to recover."

"Oh stop being such a wuss. You've made less of a fuss after being stabbed in the shoulder. Just wait till I tell Dad." He trailed off at the sight of Dean's face. Dean looked scared, like Sam actually might tell Dad and he would punish Dean.

"Come on," was all Dean said and left Sam to hurry after him.

He stopped at a booth where you had to throw darts at balloons to pop them and depending on how many you popped you got a prize. "What about his one?" Dean asked. Sam nodded and Dean looked up at the man manning the booth, "how much?"

"Five dollars for one round." Dean handed him a five, even though Sam knew it killed him to do so. Dean often went off on rants about how insane the prices of these types of games were.

Dean watched as the man handed Sam five darts. Sam's face was shining, it had been all day and Dean could now see a gleam of mischief; they both knew Sam wouldn't miss one balloon.


	4. Home

Several hours later Sam and Dean sat side by side at the back of the bus heading home. The sun was setting into the ocean and the first stars of the night were starting to appear. As the bus sped over the bridge into North Vancouver Sam felt his eyelids starting to droop and he yawned.

"Buck up there Cowboy. It not _that_ late," Dean said, nudging him.

"Long day," Sam replied, yawning again but he widened his eyes and stared out over the water. Dean smiled to himself as the sky turned from orange to pink.

Two buses later Dean glanced down at his brother's head resting on his shoulder. Sam had long since given up trying to pretend that he wasn't tired. With his eyes closed and his expression peaceful Sam looked younger than Dean had ever seen him. It reminded him of how fast they'd both been forced to grow up. Of course Dean had barely had a childhood to begin with; it having been taken from him the moment he saw that nursery on fire, flames spilling out of it. Flames that he knew surrounded his mother as she burned -his father had told him- on the ceiling, stuck there by the monster they had spent all their time since hunting.

Dean cursed that monster. He was sure that if his mother hadn't died this never would have happened. They never would have found out about the nightmares plaguing the world and he certainly would never have had to hunt them. Without that monster he was sure he would have _had_ a childhood to grow out of; an innocence to lose the day he first fired a gun.

Shaking his head to clear the painful thoughts and memories he looked down again at Sam who was starting to snore slightly. "Because of me," Dean thought suddenly, "Sam _did_ have a childhood. Because of me he was a kid. Because of me he can still have a life." This thought stunned Dean and he only just noticed it was their stop in time.

"Up you get Sleepyhead," he said to Sam; nudging him up and off his shoulder. "Its our stop." Slowly the brothers got to their feet and made their way to the door. This was the third and final bus and from here it was only a five minute walk to the motel.

"How long was I out?" Sam asked as they got off.

"Pretty much since we transferred. You sat down and were gone."

"Big day," was Sam's only response.

"Come on Sammy," Dean ruffled his hair, "let's go home."

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 _That's all folks! Thanks so much for reading this, it means a lot. And sorry for such slow updates. It would be amazing if you could review. Thanks!_


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